Monday, December 22, 2008

The sisterhood

One of the things that sometimes makes me want to have another baby is the fact that Mooka will never get to experience having a sister. Granted she has an amazing relationship with her brother and I love that they are so close in age. Having never had a sibling that close in age to me, I don’t know if it would be the same as having a sister. For example, I can call my sister whenever the latest celebrity gossip hits or I found a great new pair of shoes and she doesn’t question the phone call. If I called my brother for the same news breakers, he would probably ask me if I was drunk.

Sisters can bring out the best in you and the worst in you. There are so many times, when they just “get it” without either of you having to speak a word. There are also times (I think it’s isolated to the high school years) when things aren’t as rosy. I distinctly remember getting caught in the cross fire of a Barbie fight between my dear friend and her sister during a high school argument – not pretty – but today they remain the best of friends.

The magic of sisterhood was shown to me this weekend while attending my dad’s church.

After the service, an older lady came up to tell us how cute our kids are (not uncommon when you have the world’s cutest kids.) After A. and the kids had walked away she asked me to keep her in my prayers because this was going to be her first Christmas without her sister.

Open flood gates now…

She went on to say how her sister had passed away earlier in the year and how she missed her dearly. She also introduced me to her husband and mentioned how grateful she is that she is not completely alone, but it’s just not the same without her sister.

And in a flash, I thought about what my life would be like without my sister.

Standing with this complete stranger sobbing…but in that moment I felt like I was sharing in her loss.

I thought about this woman on the entire ride home and for how thankful I am to have grown up with a sister. How our bond transcends time, distance, boyfriends, whatever gets thrown our way. How there is someone out there who has seen me at my worst and brings out my best and loves me no matter what. For all of that, I am eternally grateful.

We have no plans to have anymore kids, so Mooka will never experience the sister bond. She does however, have a pretty cool little brother, who I am confident, will continue to be her best friend in the entire world.